It's pop quiz time for North Carolina politicos.

In his Sunday column, N&O reporter Rob Christensen noted that high school students didn't do well on a civic quiz given by the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

He also shared his grade: 88 percent, or seven out of 60 questions wrong.

On BlueNC, lefty blogger Anglico attacked the quiz as "dramatically tilted" in favor of "dead white men" and a "free-market extremist test." He also shared his grade: 83 percent.

WUNC reporter Laura Leslie scored an 85 and News 14 reporter Tim Boyum was in the high 70s.

In the interest of full disclosure, your chief Dome blogger also took the test and got an 88 percent. (The Monroe Doctrine tripped us up.)

At least one of the questions would be a favorite of John Hood et al. No. 26: The Declaration of Independence relies most obviously on the political thought of...

The answer: John Locke, natch.

If Republican gubernatorial candidates had to compete in a Democratic primary, Bob Orr would be in the lead.

The former Supreme Court justice has earned praise from Anglico on BlueNC and, more recently, from former state Rep. Wayne Goodwin. 

Handicapping the governor's race on his Wayne's World blog, Goodwin writes that Orr is "a great guy" who is "smart as a whip."

"Bob Orr is humble, salt-of-the-earth, and down-to-earth. He's the kind of guy you'd imagine sharing a beer with. Or, at least BBQ wings," he writes.

Still, he says his politics "mostly do NOT match" Orr's and stresses his comments are not intended as an endorsement. Also, he says "More from Orr" reminds him of "Mork from Ork."

* High school students stump John Edwards on conflict diamonds, recycling nuclear waste and North American currency consolidation at N.H. event. (NYT)

* BlueNC founder James Protzman, a.k.a. Anglico, announces he's leaving the Democratic Party to become unaffiliated over state Sen. Kay Hagan's U.S. Senate run. (BlueNC)

* Hagan replacements mentioned: Reps. Maggie Jeffus and Pricey Harrison, education activist Margaret Arbuckle; Republicans Mark McDaniel and Rep. John Blust. (Capital Beat)

* U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx holds "virtual town hall," fielding mostly positive calls and questions about illegal immigration. Democratic opponent Roy Carter cries foul. (W-SJ)

Rumors continue to circulate about U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

The anonymous snarks at The Raleigh Soup claim that state Sen. Kay Hagan and state Rep. Grier Martin both want to take on Dole but are looking to avoid a Democratic primary.

On BlueNC, the never-shy Anglico jumps ahead of the pack to declare he's all for Martin.

And Kirk Ross drops an insider-ish hint in a column for the Carrboro Citizen that "at least one other major name" is considering running for the Democratic nomination.

And he's not talking about Howard Lee.

Meantime, Greensboro blogger Ed Cone weighs in with his usual pithiness:

"Hagan and Martin, Hagan or Martin, somebody wake me up if anything actually happens, OK?"

This just in: Bill Graham is not, repeat, not Billy Graham.

News drips slowly in August, so the big story of the day is that the gas tax activist and Salisbury attorney (Bill) is not the same person as the famed evangelist and spiritual advisor to presidents (Billy).

Prolific blogger Anglico had asked on the liberal group blog BlueNC whether Bill Graham's poll numbers in the Republican gubernatorial primary race were high because voters were confused.

Republican political consultant Mark Stephens dropped by to note that extensive, open-ended questions on campaign polls show that voters know who he is:

In Bill Graham's case - he has been able to create his own identity with voters. They are not confusing him with the Rev. Billy Graham.

Still unanswered: Are voters confusing him with the former North Carolina governor, the professional wrestler, the legendary concert promoter, the comic book artist or the Canadian politician?

A noted Democratic blogger has called for Rep. Thomas Wright to resign.

James Protzman, also known as Anglico on the BlueNC group blog and comments here, posted an open letter to House Speaker Joe Hackney today.

In it, he called the New Hanover Democrat "an embarrassment" to the House:

There comes a time when an elected official no longer has the credibility required to perform. That time has long-since passed for Thomas Wright. Use the power of your bully pulpit to take a stand for honor and integrity. I'm not asking you to clean house, I'm just asking you to open the door.

Protzman joins Democratic gadfly Joe Sinsheimer, the top advocate for the N.C. Public Interest Research Group, the head of the state Republican Party and the Wilmington Star-News editorial board in calling for Wright to step down.